Bewitched

Once again, I had a hard time trying to figure out what to review this month. When trying to find an actor whose films I felt could fill out this entire month, I found out that I saw enough Steve Carrell movies to fill out this month with. Let’s get started with the 2005 adaptation of “Bewitched.”

This is not the usual redoing of a classic show. It’s a smart reimagining of the show’s original story, updated and reworked for a time that already knows all about Samantha and Darrin. Mick LaSalle said in his review, “If anything, it's even more lightweight than the TV series, though that may be hard to imagine. But it's funny, easily the funniest and least self-conscious movie that director Nora Ephron has made.”

Comedy doesn’t happen unintentionally. LaSalle described, “The sheer skill involved in making "Bewitched" is worth standing back to appreciate, not in the way we might appreciate a Michelangelo sculpture, but in the way we might an exceptionally functional and sturdy dining room table. It's just pleasant to sit at.” Screenwriters Ephron and her sister Delia can get laughs and make character points even at the times of laying out a very involved exposition, and that’s nothing simple. That requires some serious skill.

One change that was established from the beginning of “Bewitched:” There is no Samantha. Then again, there couldn’t be, because there’s no Elizabeth Montgomery.

Instead, Nicole Kidman plays Isabel, a witch who wants to experience life as the usual human beings experience it. Unlike Samantha, she had been sheltered and doesn’t know how mortals live. Isabel is completely innocent. LaSalle noted, “That's a shrewd innovation in that it makes use of Kidman's comic gifts and doubles the number of funny characters in the movie.”

Darrin is not here either. Will Ferrell plays Jack Wyatt, who’s stupider than Darrin and not as nice of a person. A self-centered outdate whose film career has sunk, Jack agrees to star in a TV remake of “Bewitched,” but only if an unknown is cast as his co-star. He finds Isabel and insists that the network hire her, figuring he can walk all over her. However, you can’t walk all over a witch every time.

LaSalle said, “The Ephrons have no interest in what might be called the more serious themes of the "Bewitched" sitcom. Samantha's sacrifice of immortality for love has no analogue in the movie. Nor is there any equivalent of Samantha's considered decision to give up magic for a life of suburban domesticity. On two occasions, the movie indulges in something that would have been considered cheap by the standards of the TV show: It has Isabel turning back time. Perhaps they did it on the sitcom, too -- I'm no expert -- but it's a dangerous element to introduce, because it means nothing is unsolvable, and therefore nothing matters.”

Instead, the Ephrons’ take a smaller and not particularly determined approach to the film, turning “Bewitched” into an event for showbiz satire. However, they make the majority of their decisions, and they give the film speed and a feeling of fun. Jack, feeling insecure, overreacts to demanding tasks on the set: “Make me 20 cappuccinos and bring me the best one!” Scenes of Jack playing Darrin allow Ferrell to get laughs by doing bad comic acting. He’s hilarious.

Meanwhile, Isabel, having her first encounter with people, becomes disappointed by people. She doesn’t realize that she’s seeing examples of people that would disappoint anybody. TV actors. Kidman’s talent as a dramatic actress is beyond question, but it’s only in her comedies that we see her differently. Here, playing an innocent released in the human world, Kidman creates a well-meaning character who never stops watching and guessing. LaSalle said, “The spectacle of Isabel's half-formed thoughts and false conclusions as they register on Kidman's face is often priceless and so are the moments when Isabel abandons herself to some notion of normal human behavior, which turns out to be ridiculously off.”

There’s something pure, specific, and full about Kidman’s comedy. In one scene, Isabel puts a love spell on Jack, goes on a date with him, and becomes charmed by his attentions, even though she knows it’s only a spell. Without Kidman’s ability to portray innocence and without the clarity of her moment-to-moment being on screen, that scene wouldn’t have been funny. It might have been pointless and confusing.

Ephron spreads out the comedy, giving good moments and personalities to the supporting characters, not just to Michael Caine as Isabel’s dad and Shirley MacLaine as the actress who plays Endora, but to Heather Burns as a bitter TV staff person with a massive contempt for Jack. The film does drop a little near the finish, particularly when the character of Uncle Arthur, played by Steve Carrell, formerly played by Paul Lynde, makes an extended appearance. However, that’s the only point in “Bewitched” that feels uncertain, and the movie recovers.

I saw this when I was browsing for free movies On Demand and I decided to check it out. I didn’t mind it. I can understand if someone doesn’t like it probably because they didn’t like the reimagining, which I can get. However, as someone who didn’t grow up watching “Bewitched” (I only saw one episode, but it was in color), I guess that’s why I didn’t mind it so much. Check it out if you want, but if you don’t like it, I understand.

Look out next week when I look at a DreamWorks film in “Steve Carrell Month.”